John Benjamins Publishing Company
Teaching grammar and composition through letter writing in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England
Abstract
Letter-writing instruction grew in importance as a learning tool in the Late Modern period because of its practical application to real-life situations. The vernacular had become the language of the educated, and the rising middle classes needed literacy skills to prepare for their vocations. The British Empire was growing and changing. Industrial centers were forming and trade to foreign ports increased, both of which demanded language competence. Letter writing reinforced grammar and composition skills in order for students to be successful. This study will investigate how schoolmasters used letter-writing assignments to improve literacy, teach grammar rules, and develop writing strategies, paying special attention to the earliest stages of this process, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Abstract
Letter-writing instruction grew in importance as a learning tool in the Late Modern period because of its practical application to real-life situations. The vernacular had become the language of the educated, and the rising middle classes needed literacy skills to prepare for their vocations. The British Empire was growing and changing. Industrial centers were forming and trade to foreign ports increased, both of which demanded language competence. Letter writing reinforced grammar and composition skills in order for students to be successful. This study will investigate how schoolmasters used letter-writing assignments to improve literacy, teach grammar rules, and develop writing strategies, paying special attention to the earliest stages of this process, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- The study of correspondence 13
- A historical digital archive of Portuguese letters 31
- Between linguistic creativity and formulaic restriction 45
- Performing identities and interaction through epistolary formulae 65
- Fanny to William 89
- An atypical commercial correspondence 105
- Reporting the news in English and Italian diplomatic correspondence 121
- Letters as loot 139
- The problem of reading dialect in semiliterate letters 163
- “I will be expecting a letter from you before this reaches you” 179
- Letters in mechanically-schooled language 205
- Teaching grammar and composition through letter writing in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England 229
- Index 251
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- The study of correspondence 13
- A historical digital archive of Portuguese letters 31
- Between linguistic creativity and formulaic restriction 45
- Performing identities and interaction through epistolary formulae 65
- Fanny to William 89
- An atypical commercial correspondence 105
- Reporting the news in English and Italian diplomatic correspondence 121
- Letters as loot 139
- The problem of reading dialect in semiliterate letters 163
- “I will be expecting a letter from you before this reaches you” 179
- Letters in mechanically-schooled language 205
- Teaching grammar and composition through letter writing in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England 229
- Index 251
